FAILURE IS THE ONLY OPTION

John 10: 11-18 NRSV

This God business is very serious, and I wouldn’t be worth my weight as a pastor if I didn’t preach His truth every time I come to this pulpit. “Joy” is mentioned 165 times in the Bible and “fun” 0 times. God will get serious with us at the last judgment and it is my task to try to prepare you for that while I am your pastor.  

Some of you may think I am too negative about we humans and too down on our own abilities to accomplish good. Well, you are right to a certain extent. That’s not really my job – God will be our ultimate judge.

Yet as someone who’s studied God’s Word I will tell you that human pride and dignity is a barrier between us and God. A barrier each of us needs to tear down.

I enjoy baseball and I remember my favorite Phillies teams weren’t so good back in the 60’s. I remember hearing a story that the late Gene Mauch, manager, once told:

A rookie pitcher, in his first big league game had just walked his 4th straight batter, and the manager went to the mound. “Son,” he said to the pitcher, “I think it’s time to replace you.”

”Don’t replace me now,” the pitcher protested, “last time this guy was up I struck him out.” “That’s true,” agreed the manager, “But we are still in the 1st inning!”

That pitcher was released and out of baseball, the next day.

Several years later he was on his way to becoming a good pitching coach only after he released how bad a pitcher he was. If only we could realize how good Christians we could become if we’d only realize what a failure as a human we are.

Failure, some people’s failures are seen by all, others by a few, and the effects of bad parenting or alcohol abuse, for example, aren’t seen for years.

Other notable failures in recent memory include New Coke, Betamax, the Edsel, the Spruce Goose, prohibition, the Hindenburg, the Titanic, Ask Jeeves, and lots of other failures we could think of.

The father of human failure was Adam, the first man, who had a son named Cain, who would go on to even greater failure. And frankly, where God is concerned, we’re still failing every day and at every opportunity.

No matter how hard we try, no matter how much we learn, no matter how “evolved” we humans think we are, we can’t remake ourselves and our world into that perfect place God created 6,000 plus years ago, by ourselves.

2 Timothy 3: 7 – “Ever learning and never able to come to the meaning of truth.”

Four engineers, a mechanical engineer, a chemical engineer, an electrical engineer, and a computer engineer, all working for the same major corporation, were travelling to an industrial convention when the car they were driving, broke down.

“Sounds to me as if the pistons have seized. We’ll have to strip down the engine before we can get the engine working again,” said the mechanical engineer.

“Well,” said the chemical engineer, “It sounded to me as if the fuel may have been contaminated. I think we should drain the gas tank and clean out the fuel system.”

“I thought it might be a grounding problem,” said the electrical engineer, “or maybe faulty spark plugs.”

They all turned to the computer engineer, who hadn’t said a thing, and asked, “Well, what do you think?” “Hmm, perhaps if we all get of the car for a moment, and then get back in again?”

None of these educated men could diagnose and accurately fix the car. They failed.

Back to Adam. The fall was a tremendous loss for humanity and each of us. We lost the perfection of creation and anything we do is soiled in sin. Since we can never recover that perfection or overcome that sin for ourselves God had a plan to help us do so.

Listen to the words of Jesus from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verses 11-18:

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away--and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.

I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father."

Jesus is successful – He didn’t fail in anything He attempted. He fully satisfied and glorified the Father in all things.

When it comes to success on our behalf Jesus accomplishes, or is successful in at least 6 things. Now don’t be put off by the words I’m going to use – I assure you they are standard Christian terms the average believer should know, so I am not going to talk down to you.

Jesus accomplished our “ex-pi-ation.”Expiation means the removal of our sin and guilt. Christ’s death removes — expiates — our sin and guilt. The guilt of our sin was taken away from us and placed on Christ, who discharged it by his death.

In John 1:29, John the Baptist calls Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Jesus takes away, that is, expiates, our sins. Likewise, Isaiah 53:6 says, “The Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him,” and Hebrews 9:26 says “He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”

Jesus was successful at “pro-pi-ti-ation,” as well. Expiation refers to the removal of our sins, propitiation refers to the removal of God’s wrath.

By dying in our place for our sins, Christ removed the wrath of God that we justly deserved. In fact, it goes further: propitiation is not simply sacrifice that removes wrath, but a sacrifice that removes wrath and turns it into favor. 

Hebrews 2:17 says that Christ made “propitiation for the sins of the people,” and 1 John 4:10 says “in this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

A third thing Jesus accomplished was “reconciliation.” Expiation refers to the removal of our sins, propitiation refers to the removal of God’s wrath, and reconciliation refers to the removal of our separation from God. It gives us an opportunity to add success as an option in our life.

Because of our sins, we were separated — from God. Christ’s death removed this problem and reconciled us to God. We see this, for example, in Romans 5:10-11: “For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

The fourth success has three parts: redemption. Christ’s death accomplished redemption for us, delivered us from sin and freed us to God’s love.

There are three things we had to be released from: the curse of the law, the guilt of sin, and the power of sin. Christ redeemed us from each of these.

Jesus’ fifth success was the defeat of the Powers of Darkness.

Don’t ever forget that Christ’s death was a defeat of the power of Satan. Colossians 3: 15: “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him.”

We sometimes forget that Satan’s only weapon that can hurt people is unconfessed/unforgiven sin. It’s why we continue to confess as believers as often as we can.

The sixth and final thing I think Jesus accomplished was being our substitute in death on the cross. The reality of substitution is at the heart of the atonement.

Christ accomplished everything we’ve talked about by dying in our place – that is, by dying instead of us. We deserved to die, because of our failure to use the gifts given to us by God the Father, our Creator.  Because we failed God gave us a sentence of death and kicked us out of the Garden of Eden.

Adam made failure the only potential outcome we had, but Jesus changed that when he took our sin upon himself. He became the Kinsman Redeemer of Israel, God’s chosen people, descended from Adam and Eve.

Isaiah says, “he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities . . . the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him” (Isaiah 53: 5-6).

Most of our world knows and thinks of Him as just a Shepherd but we know He is so much more.

A reporter once asked a very wealthy bank president what he attributed his success? "Two words" was the reply. "And, Sir, what are they?" "Right decisions."

The reporter followed up with another question, "And how do you make right decisions?" "One word." "And, sir, What is that?" "Experience."

"And how do you get Experience?" "Two words" "And, Sir, what are they?" "Wrong decisions"

Friends that how we become successful, not in the way the world judges success, but in God’s way: by knowing that as sinners all of our bad decisions  are rendered mute when we trust in Him as our Lord and Savior.

We become perfect in Christ. Amen. 

IF YOU AREN'T WILLING TO SACRIFICE FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN  - THEN WHAT’s THE POINT OF RISKING BEING CONFIRMED AS A HYPOCRITE?

“Putting The Saints In Circulation”

Luke 24:36b-48

We in the church and Christians in general are doing a poor job at reaching people for Jesus these days. Many are in hazard of dying without the grace of God touching their lives.

Three young gen-y-ers died and meet at the gates of Heaven. St. Peter tells them they can enter the gates if they can answer

St. Peter asks the first one, an avid skate boarder, “What is Easter?” The youngster answers, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s the holiday in November when everyone gets together and eats turkey.” “Wrong,” says St. Peter.

He turns to the second, a snow boarder, and asks the same question. He replies, “Easter is the holiday when we put up the tree, exchange presents, and celebrate the birth of a dude called, Jesus. Primo boarding season, Maestro!”

“Wrong again,” says St. Peter. He turns to the third gen-y-er, who loves to water board, and asks her the same question, “Do you know what Easter is?

“Yes I do,” and who says, “Easter is the Christian holiday that coincides with the Jewish celebration of Passover. Jesus and his disciples were eating at the last supper and Jesus was later deceived and turned over to the Romans by one of his disciples. The Romans took him to be crucified and he was stabbed in his side, made to wear a crown of thorns, and was hung on a cross with nails through his hands. He was buried in a cave which was sealed off by a large boulder.”

St. Peter smiles in delight. The third gen-y-er continues, “Every year the boulder is moved aside so that Jesus can come out…and, if he sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. It’s gnarly, big dude”

Somehow the witness of the faith has not been communicated very well, has it?

Let’s hear our Gospel lesson for today: While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 

Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ 

And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 

While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

 Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ 

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

The details reported in this passage from Luke make it very clear that this is the same body that was crucified and is now resurrected and what they are seeing is not a ghost, because he’s doing physical stuff before their eyes.  

One can almost hear these first witnesses of the resurrection explaining later everything to their incredulous friends and family:

“No the empty tomb wasn't a lie. We didn't go there when no was looking and take his body away secretly. No really, we aren't hallucinating. Just the opposite, our eyes were opened, our minds were shown a totally new understanding of the scriptures. No really, it wasn't "God's Word" re-appearing. It was the actual Jesus who died on the cross - we saw the wounds. No really, it wasn't a ghost. We saw him eat right before our eyes.”

However, the Jesus-who-died-on-the-cross-and-has-been-raised has not come back simply to take up his old job. The now-resurrected-Jesus once again patiently explains "my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you."

(Note how the now-resurrected-Jesus who is present with the disciples makes an odd past-tense, third person reference to that time before, "while I was still with you." There is continuity but also a distinction between Jesus then -  Jesus now.)

In effect the now-resurrected-Jesus is saying, "Over to you." "Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed." YOUR TURN. You are the witnesses of these things. Get ready to testify to the truth and nothing but the truth. Proclaim it.

And maybe just a little shaky at first, that is what they did.  They became witnesses.

A witness in our world tells others what they have seen or heard, or experienced, and boy did they pay a price for it.

Let me tell what the Bible means by the word “witness.” The Greek word used in the New Testament for witness is “martyria” (mär-tü-rē'-ä).  This word has come to be known and used as an English word - martyr. Jesus is saying: I’m turning it over to you. It means it’s your turn to testifying concerning future events. And your turn may require a price too!

Jesus has accomplished defying death on our behalf. God has delivered the promised “Kinsman Redeemer.” We have been given hope and a promise for eternity. We are to testify to it. We are to sacrifice ourselves to and for this testimony – to martyr ourselves for and to it.

Bill Schnebly told me a joke last week with a punch line that suggested too many of us choose to serve Christ “in the secret service.” That’s not an option – Jesus wasn’t talking about hiding lights under a bushel basket when He was appearing to His disciples in this passage. He wasn’t talking about Sunday morning testifying but getting out and about and letting people know who you are.

So what is your style? Running? Ducking? Denying? Stupid Looks? Constantly hanging to the back so no one picks you or notices you? Or are you bold enough to outright refuse?

The Bible gives us several styles to choose from: Confrontational (Acts 2)? Intellectual (Acts 17)? By being Testimonial (John 9)? Relational (Mark 5)? Invitational (John 4)? Or Serving (Acts 9)? Or you can discover your own method.

Then get out of your chair and use it, for the Glory of God. Live by faith, not fear!!!

During the reign of Oliver Cromwell, there was a shortage of currency in the British Empire. Representatives carefully searched the nation in hopes of finding silver to meet the emergency. After one month, the committee returned with its report. "We have searched the Empire in vain seeking to find silver. To our dismay, we found none anywhere except in the cathedrals where the statues of the saints are made of choice silver." 

To this, Oliver Cromwell eloquently answered, "Let's melt down the saints and put them into circulation." 

Sadly, in our day too many saints with a perspective and worthy witness, are unwilling to risk martyring their reputations and person-hood, by moving out of their safe havens called church and going forth into the non-faith community.

After His death Jesus had to come to His disciples and ask them to go forth, just like the saints of our day need to go out into circulation into our society. Jesus did not promise it would be easy, rather that it is, and was all part of an eternal plan. Amen.

He said it better than I.

My Easter message this year involved asking folks to lok for the whole story behind the story - reading the whole Gospel message rather than settling for just half. Read through Mark 16: 1-8 and ask yourself does Jesus leave us afraid and alone? Then read Mark 16: 9-20 and find that Jesus is actually who He said He is. 

EXCHANGING THE TRUTH FOR THE LIE

By Dr. Peter Jones

http://www.worldviewweekend.com/news/article/exchanging-truth-lie

Harry Reid, past Senate majority leader, when recently confronted with his bare-faced lie during the
presidential debates affirming that Governor Mitt Romney never paid taxes, simply responded with a smirking self-justificatory: "He didn't win, did he?"

Why are so many "progressive" causes these days finally revealed as lies.

It is devastating to realize that lying will inevitably become endemic to this utopian culture of "hope and change," because more and more, and this includes so-called conservatives, the pagan worship of creation rather than the God who created us (Romans 1: 25) relativizes truth
and falsehood. Thus the rising, Millennial generation has been sold a bunch of subtle lies by its Baby-boomer parents, as well as being trained by postmodern pagans to be suspicious of the very existence of truth.

The Sixties sexual revolution trumpeted the lie that unbridled sexual freedom was good for everyone. Of course, the father of the sexual revolution in the late 50s, Alfred Kinsey, was ultimately
denounced as a sado-masochistic bi-sexual sex criminal who facilitated the sexual torture of infants and children to eek out deeply flawed data for his research. Alas, the resulting hook-up culture is in a royal mess.

Homosexuality was proposed as a harmless personal issue, and homosexual marriage would never disturb the majority culture of straight marriage. S. Bear Bergman, a Canadian activist was
shockingly blunt the other day about his movement's true motives. "I am here to tell you (he said in 2015)...all that time I said I wasn't indoctrinating anyone with my beliefs about gay and lesbian and bi and trans and queer people, that was a lie."

People have been lied to about the numbers, pretending that at least 10% even 25% or 30% of the population are homosexual. But it is a lie. The government's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) released on July 15, 2014, stated that only 1.6 percent of Americans identify as "gay" or "lesbian," while 0.7 percent identify as "bisexual."

Lies about abortion continue to be told. The "product of conception," that is, the baby, is merely
unwanted fetal tissue, and abortion is a necessary part of women's health and self-expression. Each week finds another State Legislature affirming some new method or approval of a “later” term abortion.

However, one honest psychologist states: "I have seen hundreds of patients in my office who have had abortions and were just lied to by the abortion counselor, assuring their client: "This is less painful than having a tooth removed. It is not a baby."

The lying is compounded by the dishonest refusal to allow pictures of this socially-liberating procedure, namely, a dismembered human being. In fact, so many lives have been shattered by this blood thirsty practice. The truth only appears to many women later. After an abortion a women went into labor and gave birth to her baby's head!

Now, pretending to be a threatened powerless minority, denouncing "anti-discrimination," the massive homosexual lobby, supported by mega-companies like Apple, and Walmart, are about to pull off a massive cultural coup d'etat of total victory.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: All the while these companies hide behind "User agrements or terms of use agreements that allow them to set and execute whatever terms or exclusions of service they desire on their customers!!!!!!!)

These "moral" forces of change who do business with the most corrupt nations on the planet, now in
attacking Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act seek to deny to religious objectors at home their one final place in the public square, their freedom of religious conscience. Anyone can see that the law not an attack on homosexuals but a simple protection for believers against punitive homosexual activism.

In the words of Shakespeare, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." It is all an immoral hoax. On one side is the homosexual CEO of the world's largest company, Tim Cook, net worth
$400m, who was baptized in an Evangelical church, who opposes religious freedom, and with him, a growing phalanx of Fortune 500 companies.

On the other side is a 70-year-old grandma florist, standing to lose her business and her home, because she refuses to promote same sex marriage.

Cook hypocritically denounces a "very dangerous wave of legislation" that will unleash on society
"harmful" religious liberty and "could lead to separate water fountains for gays in Indiana." This hypocritical charade, of course, is a lie. What is really sought is not free water fountains but the removal of any limit on this insatiable lust for power, seeking not "social justice" but a total silencing of unwanted “truth.”

In this world of lies and half-truths, what a priceless treasure it is to look into a person's face and know he or she is telling the truth! Pilate, embodying the mega-power of Rome, saw truth in
the face of the emaciated prisoner, Jesus, who said, without apology: "I am the way, the truth and the life." Three days later resurrection life showed it was clearly true.

P.S. HE is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

“History of the World, Part 1”

John 12: 12-16 NRSV

Have I ever told you that when I went to college I minored in English and History?

There was a time in my life when I would have told you that my desire was to become a History teacher. But I got caught up in life and lived it instead of teaching it.

I once thought that if I had been born 1000 years ago I would think of all the history that I wouldn't have to learn! And all the stupid jokes History majors told each other:

What kind of music did the Pilgrims like? Plymouth Rock

If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring? Pilgrims

How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it. 

Why does history keep repeating itself ? Because you weren't listening the first time! 

You get the idea. History buffs aren’t usually the sharpest knife in the drawer.

But this Sunday and next Sunday are the two biggest church days of the year. Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.

But if you just come to church these 2 Sundays a year you miss out on the whole history of the church and God’s relationship to humanity and His creation. There’s a whole more going on than a reception party followed by a torture session for an itinerant preacher living in the Middle East running afoul of the Roman Empire.

Let’s look at our first historical anchor point from our Gospel passage for today:

The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord – the King of Israel!”

Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him.

Today I want to show you why Palm and Easter Sundays’ where necessary and where they fit in the true human history of the world:

There’s actually a pre-history: God created the angels and other necessary spiritual powers for the purpose of attending His throne and fulfilling His will. God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit has always existed.

The angel Lucifer was created as Ezekiel tells us, “Lucifer, the guardian Cherub that covers the Throne of God.” Isaiah calls him, “hȇlȇl ben Śāhar,” or Lucifer, son of the Morning Star.

We are told that Lucifer begins to think he is as God and begins to rebel against God the Father.

Our timeline begins 6000 years ago with the earthly Creation story and God’s making of Adam and Eve. Everything was perfect and God walked with man in the garden in “the cool of the day.”

In Genesis 3 we have the story of humanity’s fall from perfection as Adam and Eve are “encouraged/enticed” to, by Lucifer posing as a serpent, who Ezekiel tells us was assigned as a guardian cherub in the Garden, eat of a forbidden fruit.

Genesis 3: 8-15 - And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (NKJV)

  

Thus begins a battle between God and Satan for mastery of God’s creation. Satan’s efforts are designed to destroy God’s creation genetically and spiritually. God promises Adam and Eve that that a “Kinsman redeemer” will come that will defeat Satan.

Genesis 6 tells the story of Satan’s almost victory by destroying any hope of a Kinsman redeemer to come. God salvages His plan by the Ark and Noah.

GENESIS 6: 1-13: And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them. That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

     

And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (NKJV)

God chooses/separates Abram then makes a covenant with the newly named Abraham who will become a “great nation whereby the Kinsman Redeemer” will come.

Thus begins a saga of trials, tribulations, famine, triumphs, defeats, wars, intrigue, infidelity, passion, great faith and great apostasy, and love culminating in the story of the Hebrews-Israelites. The process of separation-purification-judgment-

redemption will be a recurring theme.

We have just jumped through about 4 to 5 thousand years to get to the foretold birth of Yeshua (Jesus) in about 4 bc. Jesus’ ancestry can be traced directly back to Adam and Eve through Abraham and King David.

We know he meets every requirement as “Kinsman Redeemer!”

Further proof is Mary, Jesus’ mother, became pregnant when quickened by the Holy Spirit of God, who furnished the genetic materials needed for physical perfection just as Adam and Eve were perfect.

We know that Jesus overcame Satan’s temptations unlike Adam and Eve.

Jesus’ actions, ministry, and teachings GLORIFIED THE FATHER IN ALL THINGS; JESUS BECAME THE SECOND ADAM. HE enters Jerusalem as prophecy says He would (Riding a donkey’s colt).

We are now at the point where we see the culmination of God’s covenant cycle which now pertains to both Jew and gentile:

Separation (Calling Out)

Purification (Spiritual Genetics)

Judgment (Commitment & Example)

Redemption (Sanctification).

“WHAT YOUR EYES HEAR”
John 12: 20-33 NRSV

In any gathering of adults they say there are three things that cannot be talked about. You know them, right? Religion, sex, and politics. When these things are mentioned our eyes and ears come wide open and our senses come alert.

But I think they are wrong. We do talk about those things. We just do it really badly. There is, however, something we do not talk about, and that is death.

Yes, we acknowledge death when it happens but for the most part we do not talk about death with any real danger, and certainly no enthusiasm. We don’t deal with it. We deny it. We ignore it. We avoid it. No one wants to die.

The death of loved ones is too real, too painful. Our own death is too scary. The relationships and parts of our lives that have died are too difficult. So, for the most part, we just avoid the topic of death. Besides it’s a downer in a culture that mostly wants to be happy, feel good, and avoid difficult realities.

I suspect the Greeks in today’s gospel did not go expecting to talk or hear about death. They just want to see Jesus. And who can blame them?

Jesus has done pretty good up to this point. He has cleansed the temple, turned water into wine, healed a little boy, fed 15,000 men, women, and children, given sight to the blind, and even raised Lazarus from the dead.

I don’t know why they wanted to see Jesus but I know the desire. I want to see Jesus and would do a lot to get those tickets. I’ll bet you do too.

Seeing Jesus would make it all real. After all, seeing is believing, isn’t it? We all have our reasons for wanting to see Jesus. If you want to know your reasons for wanting to see Jesus look at what you pray for.

It is often a “to do list” for God. I remember, as a little boy, praying that I would get to go fishing and I would catch the big fish. Later it was for summer vacation to come soon. Then it was to join the Navy. Then it was for a deployment to end, and so on.  When I had troubles I prayed that God would fix it all.

But to pray we had to bow our heads, and ask Jesus to hear us. But we need to remember to open our ears to hear His response back to us too. Experiencing things we don’t want to see or hear makes us open our eyes and ears! So it’s eyes and ears to Jesus when we pray:

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

Years ago, when the Betty Crocker Company first began selling cake mixes, they offered a product which only needed water. All you had to do was add water to the mix, which came in the box, and you would get a perfect, delicious cake every time.

It bombed. No one bought it and the company couldn’t understand why, so they commissioned a study which brought back a surprising answer. People weren’t buying the cake mix because it was too easy, they wanted to feel that they were contributing something to it.

So, Betty Crocker changed the formula and required the customer to add an egg in addition to water. Immediately, the new cake mix was a huge success.

Unfortunately, many people make the same mistake when it comes to "packaging" or presenting the Christian faith. They try to make the call of Jesus Christ as easy as possible because they’re afraid people won’t "buy it" if it seems too hard. But it’s not easy is it? Jesus tells us things that make us open our eyes and ears:

Just a few days before he was to be crucified, Jesus said, "Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!"

Jesus knew that he was going to die on the cross. He could have asked God to save him. Instead, he only asked that his Father's name would be glorified.

(BTW - Why do troubles come into our life? I believe that troubles come for the very reason that Jesus said -- so that God's name will be glorified. I have known people who followed the example of Jesus when they faced trouble in their life. I have even known people who faced death with such courage and faith that God's name was glorified. Wouldn't it be pleasing to God if all of us faced trouble in such a way that His name is glorified?)

Jesus went to explain and this is what our ears need to see, said, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies it bears much fruit. Jesus then explained what he meant.

He said, "The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it." It's true in life isn't it? If we are going to get anything out of it we have to invest ourselves in it.

Do you remember the second to last album by the Beatles? It was called “Abbey Road" and it’s considered their best. The last song is a little musical reprise called "The End."  It's the last lyrical statement the Beatles make on the album. And it went, "And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make."

The truth of this is written in creation. God gave us all His love, and in the end of of God’s Love is  what it’s going to take to save us from our sin. It is evident for everyone to see if we listen close enough!

It even is found in something as small as grain of wheat, a seed. Jesus said, First, when a grain of wheat falls it dies. Second, when a grain of wheat falls it bears much fruit. Finally, Christ is the grain of wheat that dies and bears much fruit.

But to understand that we have to use our eyes and ears to hear and see His grace.

His grace is linked to death, resurrection, and new life. We come to him asking for life, but first must discuss and accept His death and our own as well. Amen.

What's A Meta-For?

WHAT’s A META-FOR?

John 3: 14-21 NRSV

Today I'm going to talk again about our understanding of God. It is so important to remember we see God only through our human eyes with the help of the Holy Spirit. We can't make God human - we can only say that some "characteristics" of God can be compared to some human characteristics. It becomes a tightrope walk (That's a metaphor for a difficult task similar to walking a small wire between two buildings like Nik Wallenda does.)

A metaphor is a comparison between two unlike things not using the word “like” or “as” to make the comparison. Metaphors can be powerful, but they can also be tricky to get at times.

Metaphors are short cuts we use to be more efficient or more effective in our conversation with and to others. Almost every type of human communication uses, references, or hints at metaphors.

There was even a Star Trek television show where the characters had difficulty understanding and communicating with a new planet’s people until they understood the people talked using only metaphors.

Obviously the big problem with metaphors is ensuring that everyone conversing understands the same references and experiences used. Metaphors are culturally and socially relevant.

Let me give you some examples:

Rug Rat:  What we call an infant or crawling child. Often the child is on a carpeted floor or a rug to prevent injury. Babies are known for their drooling and uncleanliness, and their willingness to eat anything.

Compare this description to our common perception of a rat. The rug rat is an effective metaphor because we visualize a cross between rat and baby - something that has an air of both sarcasm and truth, and may also reveal something sinister about how our culture perceives early childhood parenting.

Couch Potato: When a person buries themselves in the cushions of a couch "vegging out,"
mindlessly in front of the TV, eyes in a fixed, submissive stare. A couch potato never leaves home, and cannot be motivated, having everything nearby so they never have to move.

Compare this to the potato, which is buried in the comfort and providence of soil and to which the only escape from its lifestyle is death. Covered in eyes, but without a brain or muscle, the potato
is snuggled and unmotivated. 

Road Hog: Something we may call an aggressive driver. The aggressive driver desires to take up
far more space than they need. They tend to push aside other drivers in their efforts for territory and destination, and in doing so, are impolite - even outright greedy, and are considered unintelligent and dangerous.

This matches our concept of the hog, with our many phrases like "greedy as a pig," "you're making a
pig of yourself" or "corporate pigs." One can visualize the pig at the feeding trough with other pigs, shoving with their self-centered intentions.

Metaphors are important. Unlike anthropomorphisms that reduce God to human terms, we are saying some things about God and Jesus that make them more understandable to our human ways, when we use metaphors.

Jesus used metaphors when He preached and taught. It’s important for us to understand the ones He used even though about 2000 years of language and culture separates us. It means we have to do a little work to learn what He means.

The most widely acclaimed metaphor Jesus used is found in John 3: 14-21:

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

¹⁷“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

¹⁹And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.

²¹But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Jesus uses at least 4 different metaphors in this passage: wilderness, serpent, lifting up, and the concept of light.

“Wilderness” is a reference to the places the Jews wandered after they left Egypt and before they got to the promised land. God was with them as they weathered the land and faced the dangerous beasts they encountered. If God is with you there is no such thing as being alone because He loves His creation.

The “Serpent” is a reference to a bronze serpent God ordered placed on a pole and used to “heal and cure” those Israelites bitten by the poisonous snakes sent by God as a punishment for those who sinned against Him. He would give us life.

Numbers 21: 9 – “So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”

The “lifting up” was a conscious act of faith the Israelites had to perform to be saved. By this lifting they were brought into the light of God. He would lift us up to the light of His Son.

If we take the four Israelite metaphors and apply them to what Jesus says in the Gospel Passage of John 3: 14-21 then we see that God is doing the same things for us that He did for the Jewish people so long ago. Love, Lift, Life, Light are dynamic metaphors of Christianity combined with the powerful understanding that a father so loved the world he sacrificed his only son.

Bertrand Russell was born into a Christian home and taught to believe in God, but he rejected his training and became an outspoken atheist. His daughter, Katherine Tait, said of him, "Somewhere at the bottom of his heart, in the depths of his soul, there was an empty space that once had been filled by God, and he never found anything else to put in it."

Metaphor – “empty space.” A God sized hole that needs to be refilled “reconciled” by God’s Grace.

The time will come that our God will act as Judge, but right now He is freely handing out His grace to all who will come to Him through Jesus Christ.

God the Father has made a law for mankind to follow or suffer the consequences. That law says, I will forgive you of all your sins, clean you up and adopt you as my own, but there is only one way it can happen.

My Son died for you and took the penalty of your sins on your behalf. He satisfied my justice and has made it possible for Me to save your souls. You can only come to Me through Him. This is it. There are no exceptions.

God says, “If you accept this, you will receive my grace. If you do not, you will receive my judgment.” 

Are those enough metaphors for you? Amen

ANTHROPOMORPHISM

John 2: 13-22 (NRSV)

It has often been said that the difference between philosophy and theology is: If you have an argument over philosophy, you get red in the face. If you have an argument over theology you throw bombs.

Any way you slice it, theology is serious stuff for most people who don’t usually even joke much about it.

E.B. White once commented: "People have re-cut their clothes to follow fashion. People have remodeled their ideas too -- taken in their convictions a little at the waist, shortened the sleeves of their resolve, and fitted themselves out in a new intellectual ensemble copied from a smart design out of the very latest page of history."

When slavery to fashion and the latest trends invades the church, our religious ideas are yesterday's fads. We adopt the world's agenda – but always just a few years too late. Many churches wear last year’s theological bell-bottom pants or the proverbial leisure suit. 

John W. Gardner once remarked: “In a practical sense an excellent plumber is infinitely more admirable than an incompetent theologian. The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in theology because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good theology. Neither its pipes nor its sermons will hold water.” 

Martin Luther said this to his son Martin: “If you become a lawyer, then I will hang you on the gallows.  Because some lawyers are greedy and rob their clients blind, it is almost impossible for lawyers to be saved. It's difficult enough for theologians.”

My Theology professor Lee Barrett once told us: “If all the theologians in the world were laid end to end, they still wouldn't reach a conclusion.”

Humanity has so much trouble with theology because of the way we think and act. We constantly reduce things to terms we can see and understand. None of us has the same understanding or ability to search out truth in the exact same way.

Which brings me to our big word for the day: Anthropomorphism, or how we humans personify everything we encounter, by describing it in human form or other characteristics to anything other than a human being.

Examples include depicting God with a human form, creating fictional non-human animal characters with human physical traits, and ascribing human emotions or motives to forces of nature, such as hurricanes or earthquakes. That’s Anthropology 101.

If you have seen the famous picture of the dogs playing poker that’s anthropomorphism at it’s best.

Anthropomorphism has ancient roots as a literary device in storytelling, and also in art. Most cultures have traditional fables with animals who can stand or talk as if human, as characters.

How many of you recognize ASLAN as the main character of C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia series?

He is "the great Lion" of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and his role represents Jesus. The author, C. S. Lewis, described Aslan as an alternative version of Christ; that is, as the form in which Christ might have appeared in a fantasy world.

Aslan helps us understand Jesus just a little better. But Lewis mentions several times via his characters that we the reader must never forget that Aslan is not a “tame” lion. 

And just because Jesus appears human doesn’t mean He can be understood in just human terms. He isn’t tame either and if you only see human characteristics you’re.in trouble.

Theology, in essence, is just that: Humanity’s attempts to explain God and how He acts and reacts to humanity. And we rarely remember that God is not tame.

Listen to this passage from John, chapter 2, verses 13-22, about Jesus’ visit to the Temple, and His reaction to their interpretation of human Temple theology:

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.  Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.

He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

 The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?”  

But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Jesus is clearly changing the Jewish theological center from a material, brick and mortar human world, to a spiritual world based on Him as the touchstone of truth and redemption. Jesus is the beginning and end of Heavenly theology.

As the name implies Systematic Theology is the gathering of all that the Scriptures teach as to what we are to believe and do, and what is known about God. It is also in presenting all the elements of this teaching in a symmetrical system with a beginning and an end.

All my studies have led to the same place: God is consistent, persistent, and delivers on every promise He has made. Our scriptures flow from Genesis to Revelation; a beginning, a middle with human history and struggle, and the end that show’s God’s delivered promises.

A good systematic theology rests on the results of another big word, “Exegesis,” bible study that is, for its foundation. Passages of Scripture studied, and interpreted are its requirement.  When rightly interpreted by Divine inspiration they reveal their relations and place in the system where Christ is the center. 

Putting God first is not only basic, it is crucial! Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other...” (Matthew 6: 24). Earthly things will never replace heavenly things.

It’s why people encounter the temple experience with Jesus cited in our passage.  We find out that God and Jesus are not easily tamed and forced to do our bidding. It is a human temple, not God’s house, that Jesus enters, and he corrects their errors.

Almost like an echo to the abrupt correction that Jesus gave Peter in Matthew 16 (i.e. “Get behind Me, Satan!”) are the words in Isaiah 55: 8, “’My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord.” So the question is, how do we think God’s thoughts after Him? The Holy Spirit.

We have this information from Jesus regarding the coming of the Holy Spirit after Jesus returned to heaven:

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (John 16: 13).

The ability for believers to discern the truth of God is made clear in 2 Corinthians 2: 9-16:

“But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him’

^“But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”

^“These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For ‘who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”

So what are we to believe without trying to add a human understanding? Can we make simple enough to serve God?

A Reformation Baptism vow of faith went like this:

I take God the Father to be my chief end and highest good.

I take God the Son to be my prince and Savior.

I take God the Holy Spirit to be my sanctifier, teacher, guide, and comforter.

I take the Word of God to be my rule in all my actions and the people of God to be my people under all conditions.

I do hereby dedicate and devote to the Lord all I am, all I have, and all I can do.

And this I do deliberately, freely, and forever.

(Baptismal declaration written by Philip Henry, father of Matthew Henry)

This would be a good starting place. Amen.